06 October 2011 / Richard Scorer

Issue: 7484 / Categories: Features , Damages , Personal injury

printer

mail-detail

Spare change?

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.

Skimping on compensation will fuel an increase in litigation & costs says Richard Scorer

According to the BBC (16 September 2011), the government has cut the budget of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). The CICA is a taxpayer-funded scheme which awards compensation to victims of violent crime. It will have £10m less this year—a cut of 5%. While the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) maintains that the reduced funding will be sufficient, the victim’s organisation, Victim Support, argues that there is already a “financial time bomb” in the scheme.

Sensible policy?

Is cutting the CICA’s budget a sensible policy, even in narrow accountancy terms? Between 1964 and 1 April 1996 the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board (CICB) awarded damages to victims of violent crime on the same basis as the civil courts. In 1995 the then home secretary, Michael Howard, deemed the CICB scheme too expensive and replaced it with the CICA scheme which came into effect on 1 April 1996.

The 1996 scheme was significantly less generous than the scheme it replaced. Whereas

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content

If you are already a subscriber sign in

...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

Spare change?

© Copyright LexisNexis 2026. All Rights Reserved.

Skimping on compensation will fuel an increase in litigation & costs says Richard Scorer

According to the BBC (16 September 2011), the government has cut the budget of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA). The CICA is a taxpayer-funded scheme which awards compensation to victims of violent crime. It will have £10m less this year—a cut of 5%. While the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) maintains that the reduced funding will be sufficient, the victim’s organisation, Victim Support, argues that there is already a “financial time bomb” in the scheme.

Sensible policy?

Is cutting the CICA’s budget a sensible policy, even in narrow accountancy terms? Between 1964 and 1 April 1996 the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board (CICB) awarded damages to victims of violent crime on the same basis as the civil courts. In 1995 the then home secretary, Michael Howard, deemed the CICB scheme too expensive and replaced it with the CICA scheme which came into effect on 1 April 1996.

The 1996 scheme was significantly less generous than the scheme it replaced. Whereas

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content

If you are already a subscriber sign in

...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

SourceURL:

Links:

E-newsletter Sign-Up

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Partner joinscorporate and finance practice in British Virgin Islands

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Firm strengthens children department with adoption and surrogacy expert

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Media and technology expert joins employment team as partner in Cambridge

NEWS

NLJ this week: Divorce ‘nuclear weapon’ freezes assets but entangles outsiders

Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners

NLJ this week: What counts as ‘rent’? Court says labour alone won’t do

A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent

Your magistrates’ court needs you!

Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process

LexisNexis Legal Awards 2026—the winners!

The winners of the LexisNexis Legal Awards 2026 have now been announced, marking another outstanding celebration of excellence, innovation, and impact across the legal profession

NLJ this week: Freed but failed—justice system leaves the innocent empty-handed

Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’

back-to-top-scroll